The Interim Management Association (IMA) has launched the IMA Institute, giving interim managers individual membership of the IMA for the first time.

Jason Atkinson, deputy chair of the IMA, speaking exclusively to Recruiter, said that the Institute was “the most important initiative the IMA had set up since its founding 20 years ago”.

The IMA was created for business providers of interim management, of which there are currently 38. The Institute offers individual interim managers accountable and professional representation for the first time.

With many organisations looking to interim managers for turnaround or change management contracts, there has been not only an increase in demand but also an influx of experienced managers entering the market. According to Atkinson, who is also director of interim management recruiter Russam GMS, there are an estimated 10- 20,000 interim managers in the UK. Russam has 10,000 on its database alone.

However, despite many organisations having a freeze on permanent hires, preferring to rely on interim roles, that doesn’t mean that any top executive between jobs will make a good interim. “There’s a difference between professional interims and jobbers in between pemanent roles,” says Atkinson. “The Institute aims to attract the crème de la crème, as the criteria to join is stringent.”

One of the first members of the IMA Institute is Simon Littlejohn, a career interim with 11 years’ experience. He told Recruiter: “I believe it’s important to establish interim management as a profession in its own right. We are a distinct group, but many employers do not have a good grasp of what we’re about. So this is partly a matter of education.”

He believes the Institute will help to identify those who have chosen the interim career path, compared with those who may be “passing through”.

Atkinson hopes that “thousands” of interim managers will sign up to join the Institute, with chartered status being the ultimate goal.